Glamis landfill gets go-ahead

By LAURA MITCHELL

Staff Writer

One county's trash is another county's treasure. Well, maybe not treasure, but Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts' purchase of the Mesquite Regional Landfill near Glamis will bring needed jobs and money to Imperial County.

A deadline to appeal a federal court decision passed Dec. 16 without challenges. The sale became final Dec. 17.

The landfill will be on 4,200 acres along Highway 78 at Glamis.

The sale of the landfill by Gold Fields Mining Corp. was challenged for years by the Sierra Club and Desert Citizens Against Pollution since the county Board of Supervisors approved the project in September 1995.

The Sierra Club and DCAP challenged the county's compliance with state environmental laws and the landfill's environmental study, saying the project would impact the environment, especially the endangered desert tortoise.

They also challenged a U.S. Bureau of Land Management land swap in November 1996, saying the federal public land was undervalued. The BLM got 2,600 acres of wilderness for 1,700 acres of federal land at the landfill site.

At its peak, the landfill will accept up to 20,000 tons of trash a day and employ up to 270 people, said Don Nellor, assistant department head for the solid waste management department for the L.A. Sanitation Districts.

The landfill will grow to that capacity. Initially it will accept 4,000 tons a day and employ 85 people. The types of jobs would be mostly power-equipment operators and there are many people in Imperial County who fit that bill, Nellor said.

"To the degree that we can purchase local material and hire from the local area, that's what we will do," he said.

The county also will benefit from fees that start at $1 a ton but grow to $5 a ton as the landfill accepts more trash, Nellor said.

"We're talking about $30 million a year at the high end," he said.

Nellor said the trash would move via rail from Los Angeles through the Coachella Valley to Glamis.

L.A. Sanitation Districts local representative Jim Strain said the landfill is expected to be fully operational by 2008.

Strain announced the sale to the Board of Supervisors at its meeting Tuesday.

Supervisor Hank Kuiper said the county needs the infusion of money the landfill will bring and the county could use the landfill for its own trash.

County Public Works Director Tim Jones said the landfill is one option for the county's longterm trash disposal but it would take capital to make it happen.

The county would need a materials recovery facility to sort the trash and it also would need to find a way to haul the trash to the site, Jones said.

There is a materials recovery facility in El Centro, but it doesn't take care of all the county, he said.

Supervisor Joe Maruca said he knows the county needs the money but he has some mixed feelings about the project.

"I don't like the reputation of being a depository for criminals and trash," Maruca said.

>> Staff Writer Laura Mitchell can be reached at 337-3452 or lauramitchell9@yahoo.com

I wonder how much they pay? That sounds like a good location to work at.

What part of the 78? Any body have a map? Exactly how close to the dunes are we talking, a mile outside of Brawley or 20 miles? South side or North side?
Anybody else have a shiat load of questions about this?

This has been in the pipeline for years. It's been at least a year since I did any research on it but from what I remember they are looking to use the old Vista mine east of Glamis and south of 78 as the landfill location. It's kind of south of the current Mesquite mine and IIRC there was/is a smaller local landfill in the area already - but don't quote me on that since like I said it's been at least a year since I did any serious research on this.

Blu, A little help with the questions please?

Thanks!

Answers from Blue? Who ya kidding? He won't have an opinion until he finds a distant related article on the trash issue out of Cleveland or some other far off country.

Blue will be for it as long as they don't haul trash with OHVs.

the truth is I don't know anything about it!!

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the truth is I don't know anything about it!!

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[ 02-07-2003, 04:06 PM: Message edited by: downhillin1 ]